The recharge of a shallow unconfined aquifer after a strong rainfall is essentially a relatively fast process. Within a few days, infiltrating rainwater finds its way through the unsaturated or vadose zone by preferential pathways to the groundwater surface, raising level and outflow, hence baseflow in adjoining rivers. Groundwater responses or recharge hydrographs derived from time series of baseflow separated by the nonlinear reservoir algorithm show a fast rise and an ending, which is confirmed by the variation of observed groundwater levels.